Yes, it’s that time again. As we head in to the first college football games of the season, it’s time for those mighty prognosticators to get out there and spin and whine about who has the easiest and hardest schedules. ESPN, always a favorite of mine, posted theirs the other day.
What I love about these annual articles so much is how the writers spin tales that make it sound as though the college football schedule slate is wiped clean every year, with the schools able to decide entirely on their own who they want to play. It ignores the reality that these games are often scheduled years in advance, through long-term contracts and football conferences. It ignores how the fortunes of teams rise and fall, so that a young and growing program when a contract is signed can be considered weak then but become stronger with time.